Saturday, July 24, 2010

Feed Me

I left Ireland on the 3rd of July and flew into Milan, Italy! When I stepped off the plane a wave of heat hit me instantly. I made my way through customs with a breeze and picked up my pack. It was one hour long bus ride, and a two and a half hour train ride before I made it to Torino. When I arrived at the station in Torino I was greeted by Laura and Bene. Laura is a friend from Acadia and Bene is the younger sister of the father that Laura is being a nanny for. Bene took us to her Moms house just outside of Torino. It felt like something right out of the movie 'under the Tuscan sun'. That first night there Bene's boyfriend (Alberto) inivited us to his house for dinner. Which is where I had my first dish of Italian pasta!!!! Which was followed by chicken cooked in fresh olive oil and olives. Everytime I eat while I'm here I can't help but think of my dad saying the back of my head 'what did you eat today?!' The next day Laura and I headed on a Tuscan adventure! We started by spending two nights in Florence. One in a hostel and one with a local, named Ricardo. After Florence we headed to a campground in Torre del Lago, a small beachside town which reminded me of wasaga beach. Laura and I spent two nights camping in my ONE person tent while we were in Torre del Lago...it was a tight squeeze! On our last travel day, we left Torre del Lago and headed to Pisa for the afternoon, where my oversized backpack blended in nicely with the plethora of tourists with massive cameras around their necks. After a nap under the leani tower we made our way to a little seaside town
called Noli, where the family Laura is a nanny for owns a summer beachside apt. We arrived in Noli very late and we were so tired! But the grandmother(Nona Linda) still had food and drinks waiting for us! The next day we spent the entire day at the beach, which is literally a stones throw from the apt! That second day, Nona, in her broken English explained to me that they would like me to stay as long as I wished!!! I ended up staying for eight days! I didn't want to leave. The food they fed me was amazing!! Each day was spent at the beach with the whole family, then at the apt for homemade meals, and after dinner and dishes laura and I had an evening stroll along the boardwalk and always made sure to stop into a shop for gelato!!! My favorite kinds have been green apple, pistaccio, mint, and watermelon!! On my last night in Noli Nona made homemade pesto with a type of pasta called 'emilieane', a prosciutto quiche, and she even got sparkling wine for the occasion! I supplied a thank-you dessert from a local bakery...it was a chocolate peach tarte, and as it turns out it was Eli's (the mom) favorite, and Nona had always got it for her birhdays! Which led me to find out the Elisa's birthday is Sept 3rd! The same as my moms! Before dinner was over Elisa gave me a bracelet as a going away gift! I still can't get over the generosity of this family. After a sad goodbye, Laura walked me to the bus stop and that was the beginning of my trip to France!